Hypertension, commonly referred to as high blood pressure, is a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases in humans. Each year, cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks, aneurysm, strokes and atherosclerosis, result in the deaths of tens of thousands of adults in the United States alone.
Hypertension does not manifest itself with symptoms that are readily detectable to its victims. A person who forgoes regular examinations may not realize they have hypertension until it produces one or more of the varieties of life-threatening and/or fatal cardiovascular diseases listed above.
The real tragedy with hypertension is that it is readily treatable by non-invasive means such as medication, physical exercise and a combination of the two. Furthermore, any physiological damage caused by hypertension is largely reversible after detection via the same non-invasive treatments when the condition is detected early and, perhaps, with certain surgical procedures when the condition is not detected early. In any event, detection of the condition provides the key to both saving lives and lowering health care and social costs arising from the prevalence of hypertension.
Recognizing this, the United States government, the health insurance industry, hospitals, physicians and health organizations, such as the American Heart Association, spend millions of dollars annually to raise public awareness, fund research, as well as to detect and treat hypertension. However, recent studies suggest that over 35% of people suffering from hypertension today may be unaware that they are potential victims.
An additional problem arises in that there are no provisions for creating or accessing large databases of current patient data relating to hypertension or other health conditions. Such a database could, among other things, aid researchers in identifying particular groups of people who may be prone to hypertension and could help track the progress of efforts to reduce fatalities resulting from this condition.
There is, therefore, a need for an apparatus and method that would more readily raise individual awareness of hypertension, identify both potential candidates for treatment and those afflicted with the condition, as well as provide a centrally-accessible database available to researchers and physicians for monitoring both individuals and the population at large.